Developing Countries: Food

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what research her Department has conducted into the effects on developing nations of the UK's support of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition.

Lynne Featherstone: Every DFID New Alliance programme, including both country-level food security and nutrition programmes and funding for wider agricultural policy reforms, is subject to annual review. This year, partner governments will conduct their first annual reviews of the effects of the New Alliance at country level. Reviews will help track progress against the topline New Alliance goal: to lift 50 million people in developing African nations out of poverty over 10 years, through increasing investment in agriculture.
	DFID has worked with the Future Agricultures Consortium on New Alliance evaluation, and is assisting World Bank research on responsible investment in New Alliance partner countries.

Ukraine

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what measures she has put in place to protect civilians in the event of an escalation of the situation in Ukraine.

David Lidington: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.
	I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by the Prime Minister to the House on 10 March 2014, Official Report, columns 25-43. In his statement the Prime Minister made it clear that what has happened to Ukraine is “completely indefensible”.
	The UK Government along with international partners are committed to protecting the right of the people of Ukraine to determine their own future. The priority now is to deter further Russian military action and de-escalate. The situation must be dealt with through diplomacy and mediation in the relevant international organisations-such as the UN and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). We are committed to supporting such steps.

Iran

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he bring forward proposals to impose further sanctions against the Government of Iran for its continued support of terrorism in (a) Iraq, (b) Syria and (c) Israel; and if he will be make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: We have serious concerns about Iran's support for militant groups in the middle east, including Hezbollah's military wing, Palestinian rejectionist groups such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Hamas, and Iraqi Shia militia groups. There is a significant body of international sanctions which target such activity, including UN prohibitions on the export of weapons by Iran, and EU and UN sanctions targeting leading members of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

Iran

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had at the United Nations about the Iranian nuclear programme; and if he will be make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: The UK regularly discusses the Iranian nuclear issue at the UN, both at ministerial and official level. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), last visited the UN in September 2013, where the issue was discussed. UK officials regularly attend meetings of the 1737 Iran Sanctions Committee on implementation of UN sanctions against Iran. The UK also sits on the Board of the International Atomic Energy Agency-the specialised agency of the United Nations tasked with monitoring Iran's nuclear programme, including concerns about its possible military dimensions.

Yemen

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Yemeni government on the recruitment of children by the militia in that country.

Hugh Robertson: We have encouraged the international community to highlight the issue of the recruitment of child soldiers in Yemen, most recently in February through the UN Security Council Resolution 2140 (2014) on Yemen, which expressed concern that children continue to be recruited by armed groups and Government forces.
	The UK also endorsed the recent EU Foreign Affairs Council Conclusions to end the use and recruitment of children by Yemeni Government forces.

Yemen

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions (a) he and (b) other Ministers of his Department have had on the recruitment of children by the Yemeni militia.

Hugh Robertson: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), has had no recent discussions on the recruitment of child soldiers in Yemen. We will however continue to use multilateral fora such as the UN and EU to make progress on tackling this issue. I will also raise this during my regular discussions with Yemeni interlocutors.

Voting Methods

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, how many (a) items of correspondence and (b) meetings with Ministers in the Electoral Commission has had on (i) postal ballot restrictions and (ii) use of photo ID for voting, in each of the last four years.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has met and corresponded with Ministers regularly over the last four years on matters pertaining to the full range of its responsibilities, including proposed changes to the handling of completed postal ballot applications and the potential use of photo ID for voting.
	The Commission will continue to update Ministers on the progress of its work in this area.

Conditions of Employment: Wrexham

Ian Lucas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent estimate he has made of the number of children living in households in Wrexham constituency where one or both parents are (a) working-part-time because they are unable to find full-time work and (b) employed on a zero-hours contract.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated March 2014
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question to the Minister for the Cabinet Office asking what recent estimate he has made of the number of children living in households in Wrexham constituency where one or both parents are (a) working part-time because they are unable to find full-time work and (b) employed on a zero-hours contract. (191112)
	The Office for National Statistics compiles statistics for people working in part-time jobs because they could not find a full time post from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). However, estimates of the number of children living in households where one or both parents are working part-time because they are unable to find full-time work for the requested geography is not available due to small sample sizes.
	Estimates relating to zero-hour contracts are also available from the LFS; however, full estimates of the total number of people in employment on such contracts are not available from this source. This is, in part, due to reporting error as respondents may fail to identify their type of employment contract correctly. Therefore we have not been able to state how many children are living in households where one or both parents are working on zero hour contracts in Wrexham constituency.

Unemployment: Older People

Ian Lucas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the number of jobseekers over the age of (a) 50 and (b) 60 in (i) Wrexham constituency, (ii) Wales and (iii) the UK in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Caron Walker, dated March 2014
	On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics (0NS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office for the number of jobseekers over the age of (a) 50 and (b) 60 in (i) Wrexham constituency, (ii) Wales and (iii) the UK in the most recent period for which figures are available. (191125)
	For this question Jobseekers has been interpreted as those claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) which covers about half of those considered to be unemployed. The Office for National Statistics (0NS) compiles data on the number of people claiming JSA from the Jobcentre Plus Administrative System.
	The table shows the number of people aged 50 to 59, 60 and over and 50 and over who were claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in January 2014 resident in the requested geographies.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	
		
			 Number1 of people claiming jobseeker's allowance, January 2014, not seasonally adjusted 
			 Number 
			  Aged 50 to 59 Aged 60 and over Aged 50 and over 
			 Wrexham 255 45 300 
			 Wales 9,870 1,645 11,520 
			 United Kingdom 197,725 31,020 228,745 
			 1 Rounded to nearest 5. Totals may not equal the sum of the independently rounded components. Source: Jobcentre Plus Administrative System.

Stalking

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Attorney-General how many Crown Prosecution lawyers have been trained to deal with offences of stalking under sections 2A and 4A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, in each Crown Prosecution Service area; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Grieve: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) updated its Legal Guidance on Stalking and Harassment to reflect the new stalking offences under sections 2A and 4A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 prior to commencement of the stalking offences on 25 November 2012. In addition, the CPS developed an online e-Learning course called Cyber Crime: Cyber Stalking in September 2012, which is accessible to all prosecutors. This course includes cyber stalking, non-cyber stalking and harassment. The course was revised in November 2012 to take into account the new stalking offences. The CPS maintains a central record of the number of prosecutors who have been trained to deal with stalking and harassment offences by way of the e-Learning course.
	The following data was extracted from the CPS HR Database on 11 March 2014. The data is based on those barristers or solicitors who hold a practising certificate in the relevant period. The data covers the period 1 November 2012 (the month when the online e-Learning module was revised to include the new stalking offences) to 28 February 2014 (this is the latest possible data available). The data includes only those lawyers who have completed the whole course, including the evaluation module, as the database records e-learning based on completion of all elements of the course.
	
		
			 CPS Cyber Stalking e-Learning completions: Lawyers by CPS area 
			 Group Area Total 
			 Casework divisions  65 
			 Headquarters  13 
			 National areas CPS Direct 266 
			  East Midlands 89 
			  East of England 70 
			  London 207 
			  Merseyside and Cheshire 33 
			  North East 69 
			  North West 94 
			  South East 44 
			  South West 39 
			  Thames and Chiltern 118 
			  Wales/Cymru 48 
			  Wessex 28 
			  West Midlands 51 
			  Yorkshire and Humberside 112 
			 Grand total  1,346

Betting Shops: Licensing

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  how many times her Department has met (a) local authorities and (b) local government representative bodies to discuss licensing of betting shops since the appointment of the Minister for Sport, Tourism and Equalities;
	(2)  how many times her Department has met (a) the National Association of Bookmakers and (b) representatives from individual bookmakers since the appointment of the Minister for Sport, Tourism and Equalities.

Helen Grant: The Department for Culture Media and Sport has held separate discussions with both the Association of British Bookmakers and local authorities in relation to gambling matters. Since October 2013, DCMS has attended local government forums, written to local authorities and betting operators and held several ministerial meetings with bookmakers and gambling campaign groups.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to ensure that superfast broadband reaches rural areas.

Edward Vaizey: The Government has committed a total of £790 million to support superfast broadband roll-out across the UK. This includes £1,211 million announced on 25 February 2014 to support roll-out in Wales, to add to the £56.9 million that we have already committed to the Welsh Government's project to provide superfast broadband coverage to 691,000 premises in Wales.
	We are also investing £10 million to explore how to provide superfast broadband to the hardest to reach parts of the UK.

Direct Selling

Michael Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the recommendations of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Nuisance Calls' report into nuisance calls; and whether she will issue a formal response to that report.

Edward Vaizey: Tackling nuisance calls is a priority for the Department and we note with interest the recommendations of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Nuisance Calls. We welcome the work that has been undertaken by them in this important area of concern for consumers and while no formal response will be issued, the APPG report has been very helpful in informing our thinking in this area that will be detailed further in our forthcoming Action Plan.

Direct Selling

Michael Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she plans to publish her Department's action plan on nuisance calls.

Edward Vaizey: Tackling nuisance calls is a priority for the Department and we will shortly publish our Action Plan, which will set out our achievements to date, work that is currently under way and our plans for the future.

Film: Shropshire

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will hold discussions with UK and international film production companies to promote Shropshire as a film location.

Edward Vaizey: The British Film Commission and Creative England hold regular discussions with film production companies to promote the UK, including Shropshire, as a film destination. It is this success, along with our world-class talent and crew, studio space and generous tax reliefs that has attracted investment in UK film production of over £1 billion last year.

Gaming Machines

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when the research on fixed odds betting terminals to be conducted by the Responsible Gambling Trust is due to be completed and published.

Helen Grant: The Responsible Gambling Trust's research programme into category B gaming machines is due to report and be made public in autumn 2014.

Gaming Machines

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of whether £100 stakes in fixed-odds betting terminal machines in betting shops contribute to problem gambling.

Helen Grant: The Government remains concerned about fixed odds betting terminals and their potential association with an elevated risk of gambling harm. The review previously announced by the Prime Minister will determine what further measures may be necessary in addition to enhanced player protection measures introduced earlier this month.

Local Press

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what information her Department holds on the number of local newspapers that have closed since May 2010; and what steps she plans to take to support such newspapers.

Edward Vaizey: The Department does not hold that information. Our local press plays a valuable role in local communities and we appreciate the challenges facing the sector. We have removed cross-media ownership rules, to allow the development of new business models, and in addition, the Local Audit and Accountability Bill will prevent unfair competition from council newspapers.

Ballooning: Safety

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what representations he has made about the regulatory burden imposed by the European Aviation Safety Agency on hot air balloon manufacturers; and if he will make a statement.

Robert Goodwill: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Transport.
	The adoption of common type certification and airworthiness standards for balloons has benefited balloon manufacturers by enabling them to freely market their products in all member states. However, we recognise that some aspects of the EU implementing rules on aviation safety may place a disproportionate burden on the general aviation sector, including balloon manufacturers. We have raised this concern with the European Commission and the European Aviation Safety Agency. They accept that the implementing rules need to be proportionate to the activity been undertaken. As a result, areas of possible over-regulation of the general aviation sector are being addressed under the European Commission's General Aviation Strategy and its REFIT Programme.

Electric Vehicles

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to support the use of electric vehicles.

Michael Fallon: The Government committed £400 million to support the early market for ultra low emission vehicles to 2015 and has committed a further £500 million from 2015 to 2020.
	In January 2014, we launched a joint Government and industry information campaign to enthuse and engage vehicle purchasers and dispel widespread myths. The UK currently has one of the most comprehensive support packages anywhere in the world with discounts for eligible vehicles, grants for chargepoints at home, on street and in train station car parks, and a growing network of super-fast rapid chargepoints which will be Europe's best by 2015.
	We also have a consistent set of tax incentives driving fleet and private purchasers towards ever cleaner cars and we are revising Government buying standards to increase adoption within the public sector.
	We are now developing our proposals for the shape of our 2015-20 support package and analysing contributions from industry to our recent call for evidence. We aim to finalise a draft package of measures by the spring, before seeking state aid clearance from the European Commission.

Energy: Industry

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer given to the hon. Member for Corby of 27 February 2014, Official Report, columns 406-07, how much compensation beyond the £28 million already stated for the Emission Trading System is expected to be provided; and when that additional compensation will be provided.

Michael Fallon: Compensation for the EU Emissions Trading System runs from January 2013 to March 2016. In addition to the £28 million already paid out in compensation, we expect to pay a further £60 million over the life of the scheme.

ICT: Employment

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of jobs which remain unfilled in the UK online and digital industries due to a lack of people with the prerequisite skills for those jobs.

Matthew Hancock: Data from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills 'Employer Skills Survey' gives us a snapshot of vacancies at a particular time. The 2013 survey showed that the Information Economy sector had around 6,000 vacancies that were deemed to be hard to fill for skills related reasons. The sector also reported higher than average skill shortage vacancies (6.9 per 1,000 employees as opposed to 5.4 for all sectors) at the time of the survey.
	Source:
	BIS analysis of UKCES Employer Skills Survey 2013:
	http://www.ukces.org.uk/publications/er81-ukces-ess-13

Land Registry

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what data the Land Registry holds on the number of leasehold domestic premises in (a) Worthing West constituency, (b) Worthing borough, (c) Arun district, (d) West Sussex county, (e) South East England region, (f) England and (g) England and Wales; what data collection the Land Registry makes on housing tenure types; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: Land Registry does not hold data which would identify a property as domestic or commercial. However, the number can be split between those owned by private and non-private individuals. Land Registry does not store data at constituency level; Worthing West constituency comprises Worthing district and a small area of Arun district. Therefore, data for both districts has been provided, along with the combined figure.
	
		
			  Leasehold titles Leasehold titles owned by private individuals Leasehold titles not owned by private individuals 
			 Worthing district 12,756 11,508 1,248 
			 Arun district 13,740 11,796 1,944 
			 Combined Worthing and Arun districts 26,496 23,304 3,192 
			 West Sussex 64,811 54,397 10,414 
			 South East England 649,941 533,038 116,903 
			 England 4,582,775 3,783,520 799,255 
			 England and Wales 4735363 3902728 832635 
		
	
	As part of the process of registration, Land Registry holds and collects data on the tenure type of every registered property. This tenure can be absolute freehold or leasehold, possessory freehold or leasehold, qualified freehold or leasehold or good leasehold. On their website, Land Registry provides a dataset inventory showing the electronic data they hold, but the actual tenure data requested is not published.

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the Competition Commission's decision not to consider issues specific to Northern Ireland within their inquiry into the car insurance industry.

Jennifer Willott: It is for the UK's independent competition authorities to decide on the scope of their inquiries following consultation with affected parties. In this case, the Competition Commission (CC) initially considered that the private motor insurance industry in Northern Ireland might contain aspects of competition which differed from that of the rest of the United Kingdom. However, on examination of the market in Northern Ireland, the CC did not consider it to be significantly different from the picture of competition in the rest of the UK, and therefore assessed it as a part of the full investigation. The CC's provisional assessment of the Northern Irish market is set out in Appendix 5.2 of its Provisional Findings report, published on 19 December 2013.

Offshore Industry

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to support UK manufacturing in offshore projects based on the UK continental shelf.

Michael Fallon: The Oil and Gas Strategy launched in March 2013 was developed in partnership with industry. It offers investment confidence and security by setting out a clear path to exploit the UK's remaining resources and overcome an increasingly challenging production environment. The UK supply chain is integral to the success of the UK Continental Shelf and Government and industry have committed to work together to strengthen it.
	We are also working to ensure UK firms can exploit opportunities on the UK Continental Shelf and build on the £27 billion of revenues (in 2011) which they already generate in the UK. Fabrication has been identified as one area to target to ensure the industry remains competitive in UK as well as international markets.

Mortgages

Charles Kennedy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with mortgage lenders on their policy that domestic mortgages must be repaid in full before the mortgagor's 75th birthday.

Sajid Javid: The Government is determined that lenders should treat borrowers fairly. The independent Financial Conduct Authority sets the rules lenders are required to meet to ensure that consumers are treated fairly.
	The Financial Services Authority conducted a wholesale review of mortgage regulation in the UK, the 'Mortgage Market Review', which will be implemented by the Financial Conduct Authority in April this year.
	The Mortgage Market Review rules ensure that lenders carry out a robust assessment of the affordability of any mortgage, including for mortgages that extend into the borrower's retirement. Where older consumers have the means to support repayments, as many do through employment, pensions, or other sources of income such as investments, the rules do not prevent them from accessing a mortgage.
	As long as lenders are meeting the appropriate legal and regulatory requirements, decisions on whether to apply age limits to their mortgage products are commercial decisions for individual lenders.

Stamp Duty Land Tax: Greater London

Nick de Bois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the potential for devolution of stamp duty land tax to the London Assembly.

David Gauke: SDLT is an important source of Government revenue, raising several billion pounds each year to help pay for the essential services the Government provides and supports on a national basis.
	Different tax rates in different parts of the country are likely to create a distortive effect around borders, with negative effects on the property markets either side of the borders.
	Devolution of SDLT to sub-national authorities would represent a significant change to the existing tax system with potential legal, economic and constitutional implications.
	There are no currently no plans to devolve these powers to the London assembly but the Government continues to keep all taxes under review.

Video Games: Regulation

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on reducing the regulatory burden on video games producers.

David Gauke: Treasury Ministers and officials meet with ministerial colleagues and others, as part of the process of policy formulation and development. As has been the case under successive administrations, it is not the Treasury's practice to publish details of such meetings.
	The Government remains committed to introducing tax relief for video games producers as soon as possible; efficiency and simplification were key design aspects for the relief.

Ash Dieback Disease

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the geographical spread and impact of ash dieback disease.

Dan Rogerson: As of 3 March there were a total of 632 confirmed findings of ash dieback caused by ‘Chalara fraxinea’ in the UK, of which 405 were in England. The total is made up of 26 nurseries, 345 recent planting sites and 261 in the wider environment. While there has been a steady increase in the number of findings since the national survey undertaken in November 2012, there has been a fairly modest spread of the disease over the last year.
	To date, ‘Chalara’ has been confirmed in: Derbyshire, Dorset, Somerset, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Kent, Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex, Devon, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Leicestershire and Northumberland.
	Epidemiological modelling on the basis of current evidence suggests that the pathogen is likely to continue to spread in Great Britain, although there is likely to be noticeable regional variation, with areas in the south east, east and south west most affected. These predictions are likely to change as additional information becomes available from ongoing research.

Energy: Competition

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Wirral South of 27 February 2014, Official Report, column 398, on energy prices, what the evidential basis is for the statement that next-day trading has increased to more than 50 per cent of electricity.

Michael Fallon: The Department of Energy and Climate Change has calculated that, on average, for 2013 just over 52% of UK electricity generated was traded within the day-ahead markets. This calculation was made using data on UK electricity trading volumes and generation from a variety of sources. The data are a mixture of auction, exchange traded and OTC trading data for day-ahead UK electricity volumes. These are then compared to UK generation data. The data sources used for this are:
	Day-ahead APX and N2EX electricity auction volumes data (sourced from Bloomberg);
	Day-ahead OTC electricity volume data from the London Energy Broker's Association (LEBA) (sourced from the LEBA website);
	UK electricity generation data (sourced from the Elexon website).

Energy: Prices

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 16 January 2014, Official Report, column 990, on the wholesale energy market, whether his Department has undertaken an impact assessment of the effects of ring fencing between supply and generation businesses within vertically integrated companies.

Michael Fallon: The Government uses impact assessments to assess the costs and benefits of Government policy. For example the Department undertook an impact assessment on the costs and benefits of taking powers in the Energy Act to address liquidity.
	Ring-fencing between supply and generation businesses is not a Government policy and therefore the Department has not undertaken a formal impact assessment on the potential effects.

Fracking

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the proportion of UK energy which may be supplied through extraction of shale gas over the next 20 years.

Michael Fallon: The Department of Energy and Climate Change has not carried out an assessment of the proportion of UK energy which shale gas might supply over the next 20 years. The Department has, however, published an Environmental Report which is currently out for consultation as part of the process of strategic environmental assessment for further onshore licensing. The report is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/environmental-report-for-further-onshore-oil-and-gas-licensing
	On the assumptions of its high scenario, this report estimates that production on new licences over 20 years could be some 4 to 8 trillion cubic feet. In addition, the British Geological Society (BGS) published an estimate of the gas in place in the Bowland-Hodder shale that underlies northern England, last year. It estimated that the most probable value of gas in place as 1,300 trillion cubic feet. The BGS is currently conducting a study of the Kimmeridge Clay of the Weald Basin in Surrey and Sussex, and the Oil-Shale Group of the Midland Valley in Scotland.
	The Department's energy projections suggests that over the next two decades, overall primary energy demand in the UK is expected to remain roughly stable with gas accounting for over a third of such demand. Until further exploration and testing can be done to determine the extent of shale gas that can be technically and commercially recovered, however, it is impossible to estimate the proportion it might supply in the UK's future energy mix.

Green Deal Scheme

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 25 November 2013, Official Report, columns 11-12W, on the Green Deal scheme, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) Green Deal assessments made, (b) Green Deal plans installed and billed and (c) energy company obligation measures installed in (i) the UK, (ii) Scotland, (iii) England and (iv) Wales in each month since June 2013.

Gregory Barker: The Department publishes the number of Green Deal Assessments lodged in Great Britain in each month in Table 2 of its monthly Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation (ECO) Official Statistics release:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/green-deal-and-energy-company-obligation-eco-monthly-statistics-february-2014)
	Table (a) presents separately the number of Green Deal Assessments lodged in England, Scotland and Wales for each month between June and September 2013.
	
		
			 Table (a): Number of Green Deal Assessments lodged in England, Scotland and Wales, by month 
			  England Scotland Wales 
			 June 2013 12,187 640 690 
			 July 2013 11,993 919 733 
			 August 2013 11,066 1,349 672 
			 September 2013 11,722 1,533 712 
		
	
	The Department publishes the number of Green Deal Plans in Table 3 of its monthly Official Statistics release. The Department will publish geographic breakdowns of Green Deal Plans installed and billed in its next quarterly release, which is planned for publication on 20 March 2014.
	The Department publishes the provisional number of ECO measures installed in Great Britain in each month in Table 5 of the monthly Official Statistics release. Table (b) following presents separately the provisional number of ECO measures installed in England, Scotland and Wales for each month between June and September 2013.
	
		
			 Table b: Provisional number of ECO measures installed in England, Scotland and Wales, by month1,2,3 
			 Installation month England Scotland Wales 
			 June 2013 28,014 3701 27380 
			 July 2013 36,817 5,225 2,869 
			 August 2013 40,933 6,308 2,956 
			 September 2013 48,752 6,316 3,409 
			 1 ECO measures installed in earlier installation months can be notified at a later date under some circumstances. Some notified measures can be reallocated to different ECO sub-obligations and so are subject to change. 2 The sum of these breakdowns do not match the Great Britain figures published in the monthly Official Statistics release. Monthly figures are based on later cuts of data. 3 Excludes a small number of ECO measures where the address is unknown. 
		
	
	Green Deal and ECO do not cover Northern Ireland and, hence, United Kingdom figures are not applicable.

Renewable Energy

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much investment in the Green Energy sector there was in each year between 2005 and 2013.

Gregory Barker: At present, there is no official statistical definition of “green sector” or “low carbon” so investment figures are not recorded in these terms.
	DECC, BIS and DEFRA have recently commissioned work to produce a range of statistics on the green energy sector later this year.
	Office for National Statistics data (ONS Annual Business Survey) is available for investment in the electricity sector, and these figures indicate that, from 2005 to 2009, average investment in the electricity sector was around £5 billion per year. This has increased in the period since 2010 to almost £8 billion per year, with investment in 2012 exceeding £10 billion—the highest figure on record.

Community Assets

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many facilities have been listed as assets of community value under the Localism Act 2011 to date.

Stephen Williams: Local authorities are responsible for administering the assets of community value scheme. The Government does not require local authorities to report on the numbers and types of buildings and facilities that have been nominated and listed as assets of community value. However we estimate that from February of this year over 900 assets have been listed across England.

Empty Property

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of empty homes in (a) Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) England in each of the last three financial years.

Stephen Williams: Statistics on vacant dwellings in England and in each local authority district are published in the Department's live table 615 which is available at the following link. This table shows the annual total numbers of empty homes and those vacant longer than six months and also vacants in the local authority, housing association and other public sector tenures:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants
	Data is collected only at local authority district level and is not available by parliamentary constituency. As outlined in the written ministerial statement of 18 September 2012, Official Report , columns 31-33WS, my Department no longer publishes statistics by Government office region. Local authority figures from which regional estimates can be calculated can be found at the above link.
	The figures show that the number of long-term empty homes in England has fallen by over 40,800 from October 2010 to October 2012.
	In addition, I would note that the New Homes Bonus also records long-term empty homes being brought back into use, and figures show that it has recorded 93,000 homes to date (over a longer time period) being returned to occupation.

Homelessness: Females

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will publish data on the level of women's homelessness; and if he will ensure that such data includes (a) the number of women who become homeless in a reporting period and (b) the length of their homelessness.

Kris Hopkins: The Department already collects and publishes some information relating to homeless women. In particular, figures on the following are collected on quarterly returns from local authorities and published at
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness
	in the live tables indicated:
	Table 773
	Households in the 'household member pregnant' priority need category accepted as homeless during the quarter
	Table 780
	one-person female households accepted as homeless during the quarter
	lone parent households with a female applicant accepted as homeless during the quarter
	Table 781
	one-person female households in temporary accommodation at the end of the quarter,
	lone parent households with a female applicant in temporary accommodation at the end of the quarter
	The Department has no plans to collect any further information relating directly to homeless women. Along with other Government Departments, it is seeking to reduce the data reporting burden that it places on local authorities, in line with the Single Data list arrangements that have been agreed with the Local Government Association. More details of these arrangements are available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/making-local-councils-more-transparent-and-accountable-to-local-people/supporting-pages/single-data-list
	We have one of the strongest safety nets in the world—protected in law—which means that people with a priority need for accommodation will always have a roof over their heads. We have maintained our £470 million investment to help prevent and tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.

Homelessness: Females

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to tackle women's homelessness.

Kris Hopkins: This Government has invested £470 million to prevent and tackle all forms of homelessness over the spending review period. The homelessness legislation in England provides one of the strongest safety nets in the world for families with children and vulnerable people who become homeless through no fault of their own.
	The Government is committed to tackling and preventing all forms of homelessness and rough sleeping the Government. We have:
	Invested nearly £2 million to stop the unlawful practice of councils placing families in bed and breakfast for more than six weeks;
	Supported the roll out of 'No Second Night Out' schemes across England, helping 67% of rough sleepers off the streets after a single night;
	Invested £42.5 million to improve rough sleeper hostels;
	Made it easier for councils to help move homeless families out of temporary accommodation more quickly by using good-quality privately rented accommodation—backed up by a £1 billion investment to expand the rented sector; and
	Supported local authorities to deliver high quality housing solutions for vulnerable people through the Gold Standard scheme. Councils aiming for the Standard are supported by £1.7 million worth of training and other support.

Local Government: Assets

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many bowling greens have been listed as assets of community value.

Stephen Williams: holding answer 6 March 2014
	Local authorities are responsible for administering the Assets of Community Value scheme. The Government does not require local authorities to report on the numbers and types of buildings and facilities that have been nominated and listed as Assets of Community Value. Under the scheme, local authorities maintain a list of assets that have been listed in their area which they must make available on request. The proposed new local government Transparency Code also recommends that councils publish their own community assets online.

Recovery Ministerial Group

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps to assist communities affected by the flooding and bad weather since the Christmas storm his Department has taken as a result of decisions of the Ministerial Recovery Working Group.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 4 February 2014
	So far the Government has taken a number of steps to provide financial and logistical support to affected households, businesses and local authorities in England. These include:
	a number of enhancements to the Bellwin Scheme, including upfront payments to ease cashflow and an extension to the eligible spending period;
	a scheme to support councils to provide a council tax discount where homes have been flooded;
	a £76.5 million Severe Weather Recovery Scheme to support local authorities with recovery issues;
	£31 million to improve rail resilience;
	£130 million of Grant in Aid Scheme for repairs and rebuild of flood assets;
	£10 million to support famers suffering water logged fields;
	business rate relief for businesses affected by flooding;
	£10 million of support for small and medium enterprise for clean-up costs, materials and exceptional costs to help them continue trading;
	£2 million for firms in flood affected areas which rely on tourism;
	£5 million to repair and restore sports facilities;
	£100,000 to help with urgent repair work for churches damaged in flood affected areas.
	Further details on the £5,000 “repair and renew” grant for all affected homeowners and businesses has been announced. The information can be found on my Department's web pages here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/flood-support-package-for-homeowners-and-businesses
	£750 million from the major banks has been made available to provide financial support to businesses and individual customers affected by the floods.
	Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs will consider any request for a Time To Pay extension for customers affected by the recent flooding.
	National Fire assets have been pre deployed and deployed as and when needed to affected areas.
	In addition, Somerset will receive more than £20 million to deal with—and recover from—the severe floods.
	I would refer the hon. Member to the statements that Government Ministers have made to the House on flood recovery to date.

Right to Buy Scheme

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment his Department has made of the effect of reducing the qualifying period of right to buy from five to three years on the feasibility of local authorities ensuring a replacement of homes sold.

Kris Hopkins: The Government intends to reduce the qualifying period for the right to buy from five years to three years through the Deregulation Bill. We have produced an impact assessment on this change, including its impact on replacement policy.
	The impact assessment shows that the change to the qualifying period will enable increased home ownership among social tenants, while ensuring sufficient sales receipts to deliver a new home for each additional home sold under the reinvigorated right to buy nationally.
	The impact assessment was cleared by the Regulatory Policy Committee on 4 March and will be published on the Deregulation Bill website shortly:
	http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2013-14/deregulation.html

Right to Buy Scheme

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Departments is taking to ensure that local authorities ensure a one-for-one replacement of homes sold under right to buy.

Kris Hopkins: This Government has committed to re-invest, for the first time ever, the additional receipts from right to buy sales in new affordable rented housing. Our aim, across the country as a whole, is to deliver a new home for each additional home sold under the reinvigorated right to buy.
	The one-for-one replacement policy applies to additional local authority sales, that is sales above the level forecast before the reinvigoration of the policy in April 2012. Since the reinvigoration, local authorities have sold 13,800 homes, approximately 8,300 of which are additional, and over 2,000 dwellings have been started on site or acquired.
	There will be a time lag between the right to buy sale and the construction of the new build home, but the replacement timetable is in control of the local authority. If a council were to fail to spend the receipts within three years, it would be required to return the unspent money to Government with interest. This provides a strong financial incentive for any slow-coach councils to use this new funding and get on with building more homes for local people.

Trade Union Officials

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the amount spent by local authorities on funding for staff to carry out trades union activities in each of the last three financial years.

Brandon Lewis: My Department does not collate data on the amounts spent by local authorities on funding for staff to carry out trade union activities. There should be full transparency about the level of facility time given to trade unions and we intend to ensure this happens at a local level by requiring councils to publish on-line details of the amounts spent on providing support and facilities to trade union representatives in their work forces.
	Councils should review the merits of using publicly funded full-time union officials. In March 2013, we issued advice to councils on how they could follow the example set by my Department by ensuring that no employees spend all their working hours on trade union duties and by restricting the amount of facility time offered to private sector levels. I am placing a copy of this guidance in the Library of the House.

Children: Maintenance

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what proportion of cases paying 90 per cent or more of their child maintenance liability using the Child Support Agency collection service in the quarter to December 2013 were paying their child maintenance through a deduction from (a) an earnings order, (b) a regular deduction order and (c) other enforced method of payment;
	(2)  what proportion of non-resident parents who were making child maintenance arrears payments in December 2013 were making arrears payments as a result of (a) a voluntary agreement, (b) a deductions from earnings order or (c) other enforcement action.

Steve Webb: As of December 2013, of the 337,500 cases contributing 90% or more towards their liability via the collection service, 29% of these cases had a preferred method of collection as Deduction from Earnings Order/Request. Of the 244,500 cases contributing towards arrears, 29% had a preferred method of collection recorded as Deduction from Earnings Order/Request.
	A regular Deduction Order is classed as an enforcement action and these are not classed as a method of maintenance collection. Those who have paid due to enforcement action will also have a preferred method of collection recorded on the system. Consequently, it is not possible to identify those who have contributed towards their liability or arrears voluntarily and those who have contributed as a result of enforcement action.
	The Agency does not hold information on the actual method of collection, but does record the non-resident parent's preferred method of collection. It is possible that maintenance is actually paid via a different method.
	Enforcement information is routinely published in the Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics which is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/286597/csa_qtr_summ_stats_dec13.pdf

Jobseeker's Allowance

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost to his Department was of administering job seeker's allowance in each of the last four years.

Michael Penning: The costs of administering JSA in the following years was:
	2011-12: £730 million
	2012-13: £702 million
	Data is not available in a comparable format for the previous two years.
	The data supplied is the sum of both the New Claims and Live load costs for each of the financial years.
	The costs include management and support and non-staff costs but exclude arm’s length bodies and NDPBs.
	The costs also include an apportionment of the costs of the corporate directorates (HR, Finance, IT) plus an apportionment of shared services costs.

Local Welfare Assistance Fund

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received supporting the removal of the Local Welfare Assistance Fund.

Steve Webb: Funding has not ended. It was always the intention that 2014-15 would be the last year of separate funding for local welfare provision from the Department for Work and Pensions. Councils will continue to provide support to those in their community who face financial difficulties or who find themselves in unavoidable circumstances.
	In contrast to a centralised grant system that was poorly targeted councils can now choose how to best to support local welfare needs within their areas.
	This Government continues to provide support to local authorities through general funds as part of the Government's commitment to reducing ring-fencing and ending top-down Whitehall control.

Personal Independence Payment

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 28 February 2014, Official Report, column 564W, on personal independence payment, what monitoring of the proportion of new claims referrals that involve a consultation assessment his Department is undertaking.

Michael Penning: Although the Department doesn't hold robust, validated data on the number of face-to-face PIP consultations undertaken by the assessment providers, the providers do monitor this themselves. The providers' management information is examined against original assumptions about the proportion of referrals resulting in a face-to-face consultation, as part of the regular performance management discussions between the Department and providers.

Work Capability Assessment

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to improve the claimant experience of the work capability assessment.

Michael Penning: The Department is committed to improving the claimant experience of the work capability assessment. The independent review process plays a key role in helping us do this.
	The Department has implemented or is in the process of implementing over 50 recommendations made by Professor Harrington across his three independent reviews.
	The fourth independent review, undertaken by Dr Paul Litchfield, was published on 12 December 2013. It made a number of further recommendations to improve further the WCA. The Department welcomes Dr Litchfield's review and is currently considering how to respond to each recommendation. The Government intends to publish its response before the end of March 2014.

Entry Clearances: Married People

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what average time is taken for a British citizen resident in the UK applying for a spousal visa for a non-EU citizen.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 11 March 2014
	The Home Office does not hold this data as it is not necessary to differentiate between British nationals and third country nationals when considering applications for spouse visas.
	The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics including those for entry clearance visas granted under the spouse route within the quarterly Immigration Statistics release. A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics October-December 2013, will be placed in the Library of the House, and is available from:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

Special Constables: Rural Areas

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps she has been taking to recruit special constables in rural areas; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: The Special Constabulary is an important and cost-effective resource in policing.
	Individual police forces are responsible for determining their own recruitment requirements in order to meet local policing needs. In line with the Government's commitment to increase the number of volunteers, it will continue to support the development of the Special Constabulary in England and Wales.

Temporary Employment

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been spent on recruitment of temporary staff by his Department and its agencies in each month since May 2010.

Shailesh Vara: Temporary employment within the Ministry of Justice falls into two categories. Fixed term contract staff recruited and employed directly by the Department, and short-term interim and contingent staff employed by and engaged through a third party supplier.
	Cost details for the recruitment of fixed term contract staff engaged directly by the Department cannot be provided without incurring a disproportionate cost.
	The Ministry of Justice uses the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) framework for the engagement of specialist contractors and interims. The framework provides contingent labour via three sources: management and specialist roles are supplied by Capita Business Services (CBS), administration and clerical roles by Brook Street and operational and support roles by Hays.
	There are no direct costs to the MOJ in the engagement of interim and contract staff as costs in identifying and recruiting candidates is borne directly by the employing agency. These costs are then recouped through the monthly invoice paid for the candidate's services during the period of their assignment.

Breast Cancer

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the efficacy and quality of care of patients with breast cancer in (a) Gillingham and Rainham constituency, (b) Medway, (c) Kent and (d) England; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: On 30 August 2013, NHS England published the national report of the 2013 Cancer Patient Experience Survey. The survey provides an invaluable insight into cancer patients' experience of care, treatment and support. The survey report includes the responses of over 68,000 patients, 13,916 of which had breast cancer. Nationally, patients with breast cancer reported the most positive experience of care.
	Medway NHS Foundation Trust and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust are the two providers covering the areas for Gillingham and Rainham constituency, Medway and Kent.
	Medway NHS Foundation Trust is ranked 51st out of 155 trusts providing adult cancer care in England (with 1 being the best). Specifically on breast cancer, Medway Maritime performs slightly below average overall compared national scores. Although the Trust scores particularly well on questions relating to awareness of and participation in cancer research, it score less well on some questions relating interactions with doctors, patient experience of nurses on the ward and for patients being able to talk to a member of staff about their worries and fears.
	Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells is ranked 105th out of 155 providing adult cancer care in England. Specifically on breast cancer, Maidstone also performs slightly below average overall when compared national scores. In common with Medway, it scores particularly well on questions relating to cancer research, but below the national average on questions on patient experience of nurses on the ward, respect and. dignity, the provision of post discharge information and support, help to deal with the side effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy and on provision of emotional support.
	Trust level reports are helping to drive improvement locally, enabling commissioners to directly challenge and incentivise improvements and providers to benchmark their performance against one another. NHS England is also working with high performing trusts in the survey to identify best practice that can be shared and developed into toolkits and will then work with trusts with poorer scores to review how they use insights gained from the survey to develop service improvement plans.
	Both national and trust level reports are available on the website of the survey provider, Quality Health, at the following links.
	National Report:
	www.quality-health.co.uk/resources/surveys/national-cancer-experience-survey/2013-national-cancer-patient-experience-survey/2013-national-cancer-patient-experience-survey-reports/301-2013-national-cancer-patient-experience-survey-programme-national-report/file
	Medway NHS Foundation Trust:
	www.quality-health.co.uk/resources/surveys/national-cancer-experience-survey/2013-national-cancer-patient-experience-survey-reports/south-east-strategic-health-authority/112-rnedway-nhs-foundation-trust/file
	Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust:
	www.quality-health.co.uk/resources/surveys/national-cancer-experience-survey/2013-national-cancer-patient-experience-survey-reports/south-east-strategic-health-authority/110-maidstone-and-tunbridge-wells-nhs-trust/file

Diabetes

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to better integrate care for people with diabetes across health and social care settings. [R]

Jane Ellison: The Department's approach to health and social integration is not condition-specific; rather we are supporting and facilitating joined-up care for citizens with any medical conditions or social care needs.
	Local national health service and local authorities, through health and wellbeing boards, are responsible for meeting the needs of their communities, which will differ from place to place. That said, many people who we expect to benefit from greater integrated care will have multiple long-term conditions, including diabetes, the prevalence of which has increased in recent years and is forecast to continue (the Department’s evidence for the Public Accounts Committee in 2012 showed that the percentage of the population diagnosed with diabetes doubled between 1994 and 2009; and the number of people with diabetes is expected to rise to from 3.1 million to 3.8 million by 2020).
	The Department is supporting better joined-up health and social care in a number of ways. The 14 health and social care pioneers announced in November 2013 will be at the forefront of developing and showcasing innovative practice. From 2015-16 we will introduce a £3.8 billion pooled budget for better care across the country, for which local NHS organisations and local authorities will need to have joint plans in place from April 2014 to drive improvements from 2014-15.

Diabetes

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to raise awareness of diabetes amongst black, Asian and minority ethnic and other hard to reach groups;
	(2)  what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of the symptoms of diabetes.

Jane Ellison: The NHS Health Check programme raises awareness of diabetes and its symptoms among participants by assessing and discussing, among others, the risk factors for this disease with participants.
	A key aim of the programme is to ensure equitable uptake of the NHS Health Check. To achieve this, local authorities focus particularly on groups that experience the greatest health inequality or that are known to be at higher risk of disease such as black, Asian and other high risk groups, and people who live in vulnerable circumstances.
	In addition, Ministers support charities focusing on diabetes in black, Asian and minority ethnic groups to help raise awareness in Parliament and in the media.
	NHS Improving Quality is working to produce material to promote better practice between local authorities. The focus of this material is the promotion and delivery of the NHS Health Check and the transition to an intervention post NHS Health Check for those groups described as “seldom seen and seldom heard”, with a particular focus on, addressing health inequalities.

Heart Diseases

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how implementation of the Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Strategy is monitored and evaluated;
	(2)  what recent steps NHS England has taken to incentivise and support primary care to consistently provided good management of people with, or at risk of, cardiovascular disease;
	(3)  with reference to Action 4 of his Department's publication, Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Strategy, what progress has been made by NHS England on developing new tools to support the improvement of detection rates for cardiovascular disease in primary care.

Jane Ellison: Outcomes for people with and at risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) are measured through the NHS Outcomes Framework and Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator Set. NHS England has also established a working group with Public Health England which meets quarterly to discuss progress on the recommendations of the CVD Outcomes Strategy.
	NHS England's future commissioning of primary care services will be informed and guided by the development of the primary care workstream of the Call to Action on the future of the NHS. This workstream is considering how best to drive and encourage better management of people with, or at risk of, all long-term conditions, including CVD.
	NHS Improving Quality (NHS IQ) has developed the 'GRASP Suite' of primary care audit tools to help general practitioners (GPs) improve the detection and management of two cardiovascular conditions-atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF). Each of these toolkits contains a case finder, which helps GPs identify patients presenting with symptoms which may indicate the presence of AF or HF which has not been diagnosed, and a management audit tool comparing current management with National Institute for Health Care Excellence guidelines.
	NHS IQ monitors the uptake and use of these toolkits, and currently over 2,600 practices in England have run and uploaded data from the AF toolkit. The HF toolkit will be formally launched later this year, though it is already available for use and is being promoted by NHS IQ.
	The case finding elements of GRASP-AF and HF will have an impact on the recorded prevalence of these conditions, and the GRASP toolkits will allow us to monitor the increase in recorded prevalence of each of these conditions over time. The data collected also allows NHS IQ to monitor the management of AF and HF against NICE guidelines, and track future improvement in this management.

Heart Diseases

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people with coronary heart disease have a co-morbidity in England.

Jane Ellison: This data is not collected centrally. The Long Term Conditions Compendium (Third Edition), which was published in 2012, stated that 33% of people with one long-term condition have at least one other condition. The Long Term Conditions Compendium is available online at the following weblink:
	www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/216528/dh_134486.pdf

Human Papillomavirus: Gillingham

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in Gillingham and Rainham constituency have received the human papillomavirus vaccine since its introduction.

Jane Ellison: Data is available from September 2008 to August 2013 and is available only at the old primary care trust (PCT) level. The constituency of Gillingham and Rainham falls within the boundaries of Medway PCT.
	Since September 2008, at least 10,426 girls were reported from Medway PCT to have received the completed course of three doses of human papillomavirus vaccine. This figure will be an underestimate due to some girls receiving their vaccine after the data submission date.

Malnutrition

Sarah Newton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent estimate he has made of the number of hospital admissions for malnutrition; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: A count of finished admission episodes for patients with a primary or secondary diagnosis of malnutrition in England in 2012-13 showed 5,499 admissions. This is not a count of patients as the same patient may be admitted more than once in a financial year.
	The Government is helping to raise awareness of malnutrition among individuals and carers though NHS Choices and we are funding a pilot led by the Malnutrition Taskforce to reduce malnutrition among older people in health and care settings and the community.

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Health and Social Care Information Centre will be liable to legal action initiated by companies to which they have refused to supply patient data under the care.data scheme.

Daniel Poulter: As data controller, the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) is legally responsible for the data it collects and can decide to provide it to third parties or not.
	A third party could sue HSCIC for breach of contract but could not force the HSCIC to release data where HSCIC was concerned about the purpose of the use of the data.

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what auditing procedures are in place to monitor the use of NHS patient data which has been provided to companies.

Daniel Poulter: Where identifiable data, ‘red data’, or de-identified data for limited disclosure or access, 'amber data', has been provided to a third party, the Health and Social Care Information Centre will draw up a data sharing agreement. This agreement will include the right to undertake an audit of the licensee to ensure that the terms of the agreement are being followed.
	The Health and Social Care Information Centre will only release data if there is a legal basis to do so, for the good of health and care and patient privacy will be respected.

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether patient data can be retrieved after it has been extracted under care.data.

Daniel Poulter: If a patient objects to the use of their personal information for purposes other than direct care following an extraction, they can instruct the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) to stop processing their identifiable information in the different data collections the HSCIC is responsible for. They can do this by completing an appropriate form available on the HSCIC website and providing proof of their identity.
	If a patient objects and the identifiable information is removed, the HSCIC can continue to use the information that relates to the individual, but has been anonymised, to compile statistics and reports. This is because information that does not identify an individual is neither personal nor private and the Data Protection Act 1998 no longer applies to it, therefore the law allows its use. Anonymised data, which reveal no personal information about patients, is immensely helpful to the national health service, public health and social care.

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he will take to ensure that patient data extracted as part of care.data will not be sent outside the UK.

Daniel Poulter: In accordance with the Information Commissioner's Office, personal data can be transferred to countries, within the European economic area (EEA) on the same basis as transferring data within the United Kingdom. The Health and Social Information Centre may only release information under its general dissemination powers if for the purposes of health and care or adult social care provision, or the promotion of health.

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what types of organisation (a) will and (b) will not be permitted to access patient records extracted as part of care.data;
	(2)  under what circumstances and for what purposes amber data can be disclosed to companies under care.data.

Daniel Poulter: Any organisation can make an application to the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) for identifiable data (‘red data’) or de-identified data for limited disclosure or access (‘amber data’) and each application is considered individually.
	Data collected under care.data will only be released by the HSCIC for commissioning purposes and where applicants can demonstrate that it will be used for the benefit of health and social care.

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what procedures are in place to retrieve or destroy NHS patient data which has been wrongly provided to companies.

Daniel Poulter: The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) has strict assurance processes in place which are completed before any data is passed to an organisation that has requested it. The HSCIC has recently revised the strict assurance processes for releasing data and has a robust checking mechanism in place to ensure the correct data is sent to the correct organisation.